INSPIRE

“Can you see air you breathe? Can you see the force that moves the tides or changes the seasonsor sends the birds to a winter haven?" Her eyes welled. "Can Rome with all its knowledge be so foolish? Oh Marcus, you can't carve God in stone. You can't limit him to a temple. You can't imprison him on a mountaintop. Heaven is his throne; earth, his footstool. Everything you see is his. Empires will rise and empires will fall. Only God prevails.” ― Francine Rivers, A Voice in the Wind

I read A Voice in the Wind years ago, but the story of a young servant girl’s incredible heart and will to bring faith to her captors was forever seared into my own identity. It was a reminder that in the worst of circumstances there was a greater calling, and a higher purpose, and that we could walk boldly in the direction of our dreams.

I’ve been inspired by many things, but as Francine Rivers best explains, I am most touched by the beauty that surrounds me. The hillsides of Tuscany and the streets of Rome are clearly magnificent, but so is the look in my mother’s eye when I make her proud, or the tussled hair of my son after a day playing in sprinklers. And when I started my own company, seeing how to place love into the very curves of leather, I knew at that moment I was living out my passions.

I once worked for my dear friend who is a successful jewelry designer, and as I handed her a design idea she’d look at it and trust her instincts about how it could be tweaked, or changed, and she’d sit down armed with beads and pliers and began twisting and curving the wire and allowing herself to utilize the very force within her. I learned a great deal during that time in my life to trust my gut, and trust that my instincts are rarely wrong.

You can’t see the air you breathe but you know it’s there, and you can’t always see a higher power but you can feel His presence. I know in my heart that this company and these boots will change the world of women’s boots, allowing for creativity and style to be meshed with personality and quality. It’s my dream that we can all walk proudly forward in the direction our own heart is leading.